Trickling
by A Can Of Axe
Summary: Every Rose has a thorn. These thorns will make you bleed, but can they make you see? Remnant has been thrust a World War once again. Join our "heroes" as they fight their battles against the enemy and learn the true meaning of warfare. Join them as they tackle demons, both physically and mentally. Join them as they try to find whatever happiness is left in this twisted world.


Whoa, RWBY story! Full of angst and drama! Free real estate!

 **DISCLAIMER: RWBY is not mine. All rights are reserved by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. I take no credit for RWBY except for this written word.**

Enjoy folks.

* * *

It was never supposed to be like this.

They spoke of everlasting peace after they foiled Salem's plans. They spoke of a time where the only bad thing in this world should be the Grimm, which Hunters and Huntresses have done and will continue to do an excellent job in keeping the public oblivious with. They spoke of a time where children would not have to see the bloodshed of their own comrades.

This was seven years ago and talk is cheap.

No one suspected anything when Atlas spoke of alliance with Mistral.

They didn't know that alliance meant an annexation in disguise.

And then they made an alliance with Vacuo.

And then they came for Vale. But both Vale and Vacuo saw through the ruse of the Atlesian government… and they didn't like that.

The Atlesian fleet showed up to Vale so suddenly. There was no premise. There was no warning. In a matter of minutes, the aerial fleet began laying siege to the eastern coastline of the Vale nation. As the ships landed, the real battle had commenced.

No, sorry, that was a lie. The battle was always there.

If there is war, there is battle. If there is battle, there is war.

Currently, the war was at a stalemate, with many dead and even more injured. The scene around the Valerian quarters was a nightmare. Orders going in and out, the injured being carried in from all directions, healing Dust inventory was at an all-time low. However, morale was still high among the troops. Talk about patriotism, huh?

Ruby Rose sat against the wall of a pillar within their HQ with a cigarette smoking out of her mouth: a habit she picked up during the war, something to take the edge off.

She took a long drag from her cancer-inducing stick, filling her lungs with the sweet, sweet taste of nicotine before exhaling smoothly, letting the smoke tickle her throat as it came out.

The scene around her was a nightmare, the wounded were being carried in from every direction. The Atlesian mechs and the Valerian infantry, with support from the small anti-vehicle units, were currently locked in combat. It had been a chaotic and particularly brutal last five days, with both sides suffering roughly equal losses. And let's not talk about the field; it was worse, so much worse. Trip and land mines were scattered everywhere, catching the cumbersome mechs by surprise as they combed the field. Soldiers and machinery from both sides lay in death, decay, and ruin.

Ruby snapped alert when she heard someone nervously clear their throat to catch her attention.

It was a soldier, probably with a message from one of the strategizing barracks.

"Sergeant Major Rose, excuse me." The soldier saluted her. Ruby, still sitting, raised her hand casually, telling the soldier to be at ease and that he had the permission to speak.

"The Major wishes to meet with you in barrack number seven!"

There was no response; she didn't even look up at him for the duration that he talked.

The soldier, not knowing what to do, started to repeat the request.

"Uh, Sarge, Major A-"

"She heard you the first time." A tall, blonde figure walked out from behind the wall.

"Sergeant First Class Xiao Long!" He saluted her.

"At ease, soldier." Yang shot a glance at Ruby. "Come on, Ruby, you heard what he said. Let's go see Ja-"

"Yang," suddenly, the air was tense. "I am your superior." Ruby started to get up, matching her sister almost eye-for-eye (Ruby was just a smidge shorter). Yang and the soldier tried to steel themselves the best they could, but they couldn't seem to get the feeling of such intense bloodlust out of their souls.

"You will address me properly," Ruby said, ice dripping from her tone.

Who would've thought that such a bright, optimistic, expressive girl would turn into this hardened, efficient, machine of a soldier?

The girl whose eyes would glow up when she saw a tray of cookies, the one who used to stuff herself with strawberries and comically balloon up in their dorm room at Beacon-,

The girl with hopes and dreams of becoming a Huntress to save humanity from all its griefs.

' _Who would've thought it, indeed,'_ Yang thought to herself. With downcast eyes, she hesitantly said,

"… Yes ma'am," Yang hesitantly replied.

Ruby got up to walk over to the barracks room, with Yang right by her side. While walking, the passing soldiers all stopped, dead in their tracks, to salute her.

Of course, they would. She led squad RWBY.

She led the single highest-killing, most time-efficient sweep-and-clean squads within the Valerian military. To them, Atlesian infantry, Knights, and even Paladins were like playthings.

 **Y** ang Xiao Long: the breach-and-enter, close-quarters specialist. She was the one making the big explosions in the battlefield. When the going gets tough, and the tough gets going, it's her making big plays and large attacks to help clear the way.

 **B** lake Belladonna: the eyes in the darkness. A shadow in the shadows. Her existence is almost a myth to soldiers on both sides of this war. Her numerous reconnaissance missions have proven vastly useful to Vale Intel, making her a kind of legend.

 **W** eiss Schnee: An Atlesian defector to the Vale army. Rumors have it that she murdered her own father when he found out her plans of defecting to Vale. A high-class woman with high-class skills. She charges into battle with honor, using her summons to clear the battlefield in way of Vale troops.

And finally:

 **R** uby Rose: The woman, the myth, the legend. The heroine of the last big battle where she saved mankind against Salem's plans. Once a heroine, now a lethal wind of the battlefield. The bright Huntress, drafted to be a killer.

You see, the notoriety of Team RWBY came not only from their team chemistry…, but also from how good they were at instilling fear into enemies' hearts.

They had the highest number of confirmed kills ever recorded in history for a four-man team, 1,534 to be exact. That's about a thousand kills higher than the next group down (#2), Team CFVY, another Hunter team drafted for the war machine.

But if the rumor that has spread around base is true: Weiss, Blake, and Yang have no confirmed kills in their name. Which means their leader, Ruby Rose, accounts for every single kill on their record.

"The Red Demon", "The Rose of the Grave", "The Reaper's Daughter"- those are just three of several names the Atlesian soldiers call her.

Quoting one Atlas soldier: _"It takes three seconds to die when you witness the Rose's flight. One for readying your weapon, one for wondering why your head is on the ground-,_

 _And finally, one to realize that she's coming."_

Opening the doors to the barracks, they walked down to the end of the hallway, where the Major's office was.

The two guards posted at the door saluted the two. Yang and Ruby saluted back.

"We have orders to meet with the Major," Yang said.

One of the guards opened the and slipped in. A moment later he exited and said, "You have permission to enter."

They did an affirmative salute, sharply and stoically placing their fists on their hearts. Ruby and Yang walked through the door and closed it behind them.

"Ruby, and Yang! Perfect. I was worried because I had to forgotten to tell your name to the Private that went and got you!"

"It's fine-"

Ruby cut her sister off.

Saluting the major, she said, "Sir, what are your orders?"

Yang's heart sank. Had she always been this to-the-point?

"Ruby, in here you can drop the formalities, we both went to Beacon together, and we both know you're more deserving of this position than I am. And that goes for you to Yang."

Yang sighed with relief and dropped her shoulders. "Whew, thanks Jaune."

Jaune Arc, an officer with the rank of Major within the Valerian army, on a fast track to becoming the youngest Lieutenant Colonel ever at the age of 25: Jaune had been drafted and placed straight into a Non-commissioned officer position after the top brass realized that he had great strategizing potential. His brilliant tactician skills have won Vale many crucial battles with- and the most incredible part of all of this- minimal casualties and injuries. If an operation was strategized by Major Jaune Arc, soldiers could rest easy knowing that they would probably get home without any issues. However, because he was pulled from combat so quickly, there is no real gauge to accurately measure his fighting abilities.

"Major Arc, we are at war, which calls for respect to the hierarchy placed," replied Ruby, dutifully.

"Well, this is a little differ-"

"And in your own words, 'Organization is key to victory'," Ruby replied with the same conviction, but a little more dully this time.

"… Of course."

Those bright silver eyes that shined so brightly when they used to share laughs and adventures were a faded grey now. Jaune hated this war with all his being. One of his reasons to be the best strategist he could be was so that this war could end as soon as possible, with the least possible moves and the least pieces lost, so that things could return to being 'normal'.

He cleared his throat.

"Well, you must be wondering why I have called you here today," Jaune tried to ease the tension that Ruby had created within his office.

"I've recently been alerted to new intel on the locations of crucial Atlesian weapons caches that could turn this current stalemate in our favor."

"So… where do we come into this picture?" Yang inquired.

"That's for reconnaissance to tell you. Qrow?"

Qrow? Ruby perked up at her uncle's name. She quickly tried to scan the room for her uncle when he suddenly materialized in front of them.

Of course, he was in his crow form.

"Long time no see ladies," their uncle said to them.

"Uncle Qrow! You're back!? Are you hurt, did they find you?" Yang exploded with questions.

"Whoa, whoa, before that, how have you all been? Also, if they found me, I reckon I wouldn't be here."

"I guess you're right," Yang laughed.

"What about you, Red?"

He was met with downcast eyes. Qrow grimaced at the coldness of her niece.

"Still the same, I see," he said to himself.

"What's our mission, Lieutenant?" Ruby spoke.

There was a long silence and the three had the same thought in their head: ' _When can things be normal again?'_

"You and your team are to mobilize and eliminate a weapons cache that my intel team found right here," Qrow laid out a map and pointed to the 'x' marker on the map.

"Noted. Any other directions?"

"Any and all use of force is authorized to destroy this cache. Discriminate extremely. But I doubt I even have to tell you that. The location is expected to be heavily guarded with Knights and Paladins- Look, what I'm trying to say is: Be careful," Jaune added on.

"Yes sir," Ruby saluted before walking out.

The three stood idly in the room, unknowing of what to do until Qrow spoke up and said, "I'll go talk to her."

Qrow left the room to catch up with Ruby.

"Yang, I-"

"You don't have to be sorry, Jaune. We all have a duty to serve our nation in its time of need," Yang turned her back to him.

Jaune thought to himself that this was a surprisingly optimistic response for such a situation. But, those thoughts were washed down the drain when he heard sniffles coming from Yang's direction.

"I- I just wish… I keep letting her hurt," Yang tried to fight the tears from streaming down her cheeks.

"I just want her to smile genuinely again, but I don't know how!"

She lost that fight.

Jaune crumpled into his seat and rested his head into his folded hands.

 **~0~0~0~0~0~0~**

Qrow found Ruby rested against the wall with her hood up, about to light another cigarette for herself.

"Hey, you know enough of those will kill you," he joked as he sat beside her.

"Better than the gasoline you call liquor that you put in that flask of yours," she retorted dryly.

He chuckled and put his hand out gesturing her to give him one. She took her pack out and opened it towards her uncle's direction. 'Vale Spirits' the box had said. He picked one out. Lighting them, they both took a long drag.

Exhaling, Qrow took his flask out and took a swig and handed her the container. Ruby eyed it carefully before swiping it from his hand and taking several gulps of her uncle's liquor.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, slugger," Ruby wasn't exactly known for her high tolerance. Back at Beacon, when there was a dorm party that Yang would drag her to, two or three shots was enough to get the girl wobbly.

Even as a hardened soldier, the circumstances haven't changed.

Without fail, Qrow noticed his niece's face getting redder by the minute, her body slowly swaying back and forth. She tried futilely to hide the fact that she was drunk by tucking her knees into her body and hiding half her face into her hood, earning her another laugh from her uncle.

"Where are Blake and Weiss?"

"They're both coming back from a mission for some Grimm infestation at one of our outposts."

"Ha, even at war, the government still has us fighting Grimm."

The two sat in silence, when suddenly, to her uncle's surprise, Ruby spoke up.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"You're asking the wrong person, Red… What do you think?"

"Where do I start?" Ruby sank down into her hood even more.

"How about from the truth?" Qrow sighed.

Ruby knew what he was trying to get to. He was going to ask-

"Is all of this talk I hear around base true? Are you this 'executor' that I keep hearing about from conversations that our enemies have?"

-about the rumor.

"I… I don't want my friends to kill if they don't have to."

Qrow was shocked. His niece, once the innocent schoolgirl, _she_ was the one responsible for the bloodshed of so many men.

"You don't have to kill-"

"Yes, I do. If I don't, they'll remobilize and come back again even stronger. And if they do that, my friends are put more at risk, and I… I just… I'd rather see myself hurt than them."

' _At least she still puts the feelings of others before hers… That hasn't changed,'_ Qrow thought to himself.

But he couldn't help her. As much as it pained him to see her like this, he didn't know how, and frankly, he probably might make things worse if he tried.

All he could do is hug her and mess up her hair a bit.

"Your team is there for a reason. And when I say team, I don't mean just the squad of RWBY," Qrow said, getting up to leave.

He took one last look back and said, "Get some rest, kiddo. You have a long day ahead of you."

"Thanks, Uncle Qrow. See you soon?" Ruby looked up to him.

"You know it!" He gave her a huge grin.

And she gave back her own smile. A big, pearly smile, something that made him remember her as a child. The same smile that she gave him when he said 'yes' to teaching her how to use a scythe. Ah, yes. The good old days, where the grass was green, and the sky didn't sound like death.

He waved good-bye and walked off into the base.

 **~0~0~0~0~0~0~**

" _Maybe it's better this way…" Salem croaked out into Ruby's ear, who was currently right next to her after making a lunge at Salem with the Crescent Rose._

 _Ruby's scythe right now was firmly wedged between Salem's stomach and spine. This was the first time she's ever felt a pang of regret for a kill._

" _W-what do you mean?"_

" _You… You may have foiled my plans, but you never thought it would end like this, huh?" Salem, even with her dying breath, she continued to mock her opponents._

" _No! I did the right thing! I stopped you! You were going to destroy the world!"_

" _It… matters not who you stop. After me, there will be another, and another. Power knows no bounds," Salem hissed._

" _But-"_

" _Ha ha ha… Currently, I have blade through my stomach. I'm going to die soon. However… compared to yours, my suffering will be quick…"_

 _As she faded to dust, the scene around Ruby became pitch black, only to be rematerialize as a battlefield in the middle of the heat of battle._

" _Ruby, get out of there!" Weiss screamed at her._

 _She turned to look, but a missile was already locked on. She tried to block it, but as she tried, the world became black again._

 _She came into the same battlefield, but at nighttime. But something was different. There was no fighting, no patrols, no anything!_

 _And then she saw the corpses._

" _W-Who did this?"_

 _She looked down, and to her horror, she was covered in the enemies' blood._

" _W-was it… it couldn't be me-"_

" _Oh, but it was."_

 _Blake?!_

" _You killed all of them, Ruby," Weiss came out from behind her._

" _Are you ready to atone for your sins,… you murderer?" It was Yang this time._

 _Her three teammates slowly started approaching her all chanting in monotone voice._

" _Murderer… Murderer…"_

" _No, go away!"_

 _Their eyes became a lifeless black; Ruby felt as if she was being sucked into the void._

" _Murderer… Murderer…"_

" _It's not true!"_

 _They were getting closer._

" _Murderer… Murderer…"_

" _No, please! STOP!"_

Ruby woke up in a cold sweat. Her chest was pounding and her breathing was erratic. It felt as if the weight of the world was one of her shoulders. She slowly stood up to walk to the sink so that she could wash her face to cool off.

She took a long look in the mirror.

Her eyes were baggy, her hair was a mess, her lips were chapped. She hadn't been able to properly sleep for years and it was showing.

Ruby walked back to her bed, but took a painting down from the wall of her quarters, revealing a hidden sliding door. Opening the door, she took out a vial and a rubber tube. Tying the tube around her bicep, she read the label that was on the vial:

 _For Medical Use Only_

 _Class II (1000mL|50mg/mL)_

 _ **MORPHINE SULFATE INJECTION**_

Grabbing the syringe that she had on her combat belt that she hung up, she filled it up with the drug.

For a couple hours a week, she could just forget. Those couple hours were going to start- the needle went in-

Now.

It was never supposed to be like this.

* * *

Don't really know how to continue this, but I'll try my best. Leave me a comment on what you might like to see in this prototype.


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